KT Boundary Chromites Determined to be Terrestrial: Cr Isotopic Evidence for Excavation and Ejection of Mafic/Ultramafic Rocks by the KT Boundary Impact

Evidence for a mantle and/or basaltic component in KT boundary distal ejecta is apparently inconsistent with ejection from Chicxulub Crater since it is located on~35km thick continental crust(De Paolo et al.,1983;Montanari et al.,1983;Hildebrand and Boynton,1988,1990).Evidence for mafic/ultramafic target rocks was reinforced by discovery of chromites,some with shock planar deformation features(PDF),in impact layer samples from sites in southern Colorado and eastern Wyoming(Bohor et al.,1990).However,until now it was unclear whether the chromites originated with an impactor or with terrestrial target rocks.To this end,high-precision 54Cr/52Cr isotope ratios were measured on KT boundary chromites along with known terrestrial chromites.We find a terrestrial 54Cr/52Cr ratio in KT boundary chromites from impact layer samples collected at the above sites over the last several years(Fig.1).Ejected terrestrial chromites suggest the impact sampled terrestrial mafic and/or ultramafic target rocks not known to exist in the Chicxulub target area.     

Homogeneous impact melts produced by a heterogeneous target?: Sr-Nd isotopic evidence from the Popigai crater, Russia

The 35.7 ± 0.2 Ma old Popigai crater, Siberia, with a diameter of about 100 km is one of the best preserved large terrestrial impact structures. The heterogeneous target at the impact site consists of Archean to Lower Proterozoic metamorphic rocks of the crystalline basement, Upper Proterozoic quartzites and other clastic deposits, as well as Cambrian to Cretaceous clastic sediments and sedimentary rocks, including carbonate rocks. Moreover, Proterozoic and Permo-Triassic dolerite dykes are found in the target area. We report major element, Sr and Nd isotope data for 13 of these target rocks and for various types of impactites. The 15 analysed impactite samples include tagamites (impact melt rocks), suevites and impact glass from small veins. Furthermore, two impact breccias and two impact glass-coated gneiss bombs were analysed. We discuss the relation of these impactites to the target lithologies, and evaluate on the basis of literature data the relation of microkrystites (and associated microtektites) in Upper Eocene sediments to the Popigai event.The impactites have SiO₂ abundances ranging from 59 to 66 wt.% and show significant variations in the content of Fe, Ca, and Ti. They have present day ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios between 0.7191 and 0.7369. Their Sr model ages T^Sr_UR range from 1.9 to 2.3 Ga. The ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios for the impactite samples cluster between 0.5113 and 0.5115. The Nd model ages T^Nd_CHUR range from 1.9 to 2.1 Ga.In an ε_CHUR(Nd)-ε_UR(Sr) diagram, the impactites and Upper Eocene microkrystites (and associated microtektites) plot in a field delimited by Popigai target lithologies. The impactites are restricted to the field of crystalline basement rocks and Upper Proterozoic quartzites, but they show different isotopic signatures in different crater sectors. Impactites and Upper Eocene microkrystites plot in different, only partly overlapping clusters. The leucocratic microkrystites and microtektites have a higher affinity to the post-Proterozoic rocks in the target area than the impactites. Seemingly, the melanocratic microkrystites originated mostly from crystalline basement. This data alignment supports the assumption that Popigai is the source crater for all three types of ejecta. For the first time, clear relations are established of the geochemically variable Upper Eocene microkrystites and associated microtektites to specific target lithologies at Popigai crater. Finally, the observed range in Sr and Nd isotope parameters determined for impact melt lithologies that originated during the Popigai event show a much higher variability than known from other craters. This result indicates that mixing of impact melt which later formed tagamite sheets and glass particles in different impact breccias, was incomplete at the time of ejecta dispersal.     

Hypervelocity collisions into continental crust composed of sediments and an underlying crystalline basement: comparing the Ries (∼24 km) and Chicxulub (∼180 km) impact craters

The Chicxulub and Ries impact craters were excavated from layered continental terrains that were composed of carbonate-bearing sedimentary sequences and underlying crystalline silicate basement materials. The Chicxulub and Ries impact events were sufficiently large to produce complex peak-ring impact craters. The walls of transient craters and excavation cavities, with diameters of 12-16 km for the Ries and 90-100 km for Chicxulub, collapsed to form final crater diameters of ∼24 and ∼180 km, respectively. Debris from both the sedimentary and crystalline layers was ejected during crater formation, but the bulk of the melting occurred at depth, in the silicate basement. The volume of melt and proportion of melt among shock-metamorphosed debris was far larger at Chicxulub, producing a central melt sheet ∼3 km in depth. The central melt sheet was covered with melt-bearing polymict breccias and, at the Ries, similar breccias (crater suevites) filled the central cavity. Also at the Ries (and presumably at Chicxulub), large hill-size megablocks of crystalline basement material were deposited near the transient crater rim. Blocks and megablocks of sedimentary lithologies were ejected into the modification zone between the peak ring and final crater rim, while additional material was slumping inward during crater growth, and buried beneath a fallout deposit of melt-bearing polymict breccias. The melt and surviving clasts in the breccias are dominantly derived from the deeper, basement lithologies. At greater distances, however, the ejecta is dominated by near-surface sedimentary lithologies, large blocks of which landed with such high energy that they scoured and eroded the pre-existing surface. The excavation and ejecta pattern produced lithological and chemical variations with radial distance from the crater centers that evolve from basement components near the crater centers to sedimentary components far from the crater centers. In addition, carbonate (and anhydrite in the case of Chicxulub) was vaporized, producing environmentally active gases. The vaporized volume produced by the Ries impact event was too small to dramatically alter the evolution of life, but the vaporized volume produced by the Chicxulub impact event is probably a key factor in the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary mass extinction event.     

Yaxcopoil-1 and the Chicxulub impact

CSDP core Yaxcopoil-1 was drilled to a depth of 1,511 m within the Chicxulub crater. An organic-rich marly limestone near the base of the hole (1,495 to 1,452 m) was deposited in an open marine shelf environment during the latest Cenomanian (uppermost Rotalipora cushmani zone). The overlying sequence of limestones, dolomites and anhydrites (1,495 to 894 m) indicates deposition in various carbonate platform environments (e.g., sabkhas, lagoons). A 100-m-thick suevite breccia (894–794 m) identifies the Chicxulub impact event. Above the suevite breccia is a dolomitic limestone with planktic foraminiferal assemblages indicative of Plummerita hantkeninoides zone CF1, which spans the last 300 ky of the Maastrichtian. An erosional surface 50 cm above the breccia/dolomite contact marks the K/T boundary and a hiatus. Limestones above this contact contain the first Tertiary planktic foraminifera indicative of an upper P. eugubina zone P1a(2) age. Another hiatus 7 cm upsection separates zone P1a(2) and hemipelagic limestones of planktic foraminiferal Zone P1c. Planktic foraminiferal assemblages of Zone Plc to P3b age are present from a depth of 794.04 up to 775 m. The Cretaceous carbonate sequence appears to be autochthonous, with a stratigraphic sequence comparable to late Cretaceous sediments known from outside the Chicxulub crater in northern and southern Yucatan, including the late Cenomanian organic-rich marly limestone. There is no evidence that these sediments represent crater infill due to megablocks sliding into the crater, such as major disruption of sediments, chaotic changes in lithology, overturned or deep dipping megablocks, major mechanical fragmentation, shock or thermal alteration, or ductile deformation. Breccia units that are intercalated in the carbonate platform sequence are intraformational in origin (e.g., dissolution of evaporites) and dykes are rare. Major disturbances of strata by the impact therefore appear to have been confined to within less than 60 km from the proposed impact center. Yaxcopoil-1 may be located outside the collapsed transient crater cavity, either on the upper end of an elevated and tilted horst of the terrace zone, or even outside the annular crater cavity. The Chicxulub site thus records a large impact that predates the K/T boundary impact and mass extinction.     

Cathodoluminescence petrography and isotope geochemistry of KT impact ejecta deposited 360 km from the Chicxulub crater, at Albion Island, Belize

The depositional and diagenetic history of Cretaceous–Tertiary (KT) impact ejecta deposited 360 km from the Chicxulub crater, at Albion Island, Belize, has been investigated using integrated cathodoluminescence and isotopic analyses. A quarry exposes 26 m of Upper Cretaceous Barton Creek Formation dolomitized marine limestone overlain by 16 m of dolomitized Albion Formation impact ejecta. The Albion Formation consists of a lower fine‐grained ≈1‐m‐thick spheroid bed and an upper 15‐m‐thick coarse conglomeratic diamictite bed. A 14‐event paragenetic sequence has been documented and used as a temporal framework to interpret chemostratigraphic trends in bulk rock δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr. The uppermost surface of the Barton Creek Formation was subaerially exposed before the KT impact, as indicated by a brecciated palaeosol that caps upsection decreases in δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O. Small 1‐cm‐diameter spheroids in the spheroid bed exhibit vermicular crystalline textures but lack the concentric zonations common to accretionary lapilli. These spheroids are hypothesized originally to have been impact glass or reactive Ca and Mg oxide dusts that adhered to water vapour particles condensing from the cooling impact vapour cloud. The spheroids were dolomitized soon after deposition. The earliest dolomitization in the matrix sediments of the Albion Formation was also post‐depositional, replacing clays formed by devitrification of impact glass. Dolomite and clay ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr exhibit a distinct symmetrical distribution in the spheroid bed ranging from 0·707745 to 0·707872. Although unproven, this may represent primary changes in the chemical composition of the impact glass. The limestone clasts in the diamictite bed were dolomitized before the KT impact and exhibit upsection decreases in bulk rock ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr. This suggests that the clasts were excavated from strata equivalent in age or older than the Barton Creek Formation at locations closer to, or in, the Chicxulub crater.     

Peering inside the peak ring of the Chicxulub Impact Crater—its nature and formation mechanism

The IODP‐ICDP Expedition 364 drilled into the Chicxulub crater, peering inside its well‐preserved peak ring. The borehole penetrated a sequence of post‐impact carbonates and a unit of suevites and clast‐poor impact melt rock at the top of the peak ring. Beneath this sequence, basement rocks cut by pre‐impact and impact dykes, with breccias and melt, were encountered at shallow depths. The basement rocks are fractured, shocked and uplifted, consistent with dynamic collapse, uplift and long‐distance transport of weakened material during collapse of the transient cavity and final crater formation.     

The Cretaceous–Tertiary transition in Guatemala: limestone breccia deposits from the South Petén basin

Limestone breccia deposits in southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize have recently been interpreted as proximal to distal ballistic fallout deposits, generated by a bolide impact that struck Yucatan at K/T boundary time. We review the age, lithology and the depositional environment of five K/T boundary sections in the South Petén area of Guatemala (Caribe, Aserradero, Chisec, Actela, Chemal) in order to evaluate the nature and origin of K/T limestone breccia deposition. The sections are located 500?km south of the proposed impact site at Chicxulub and trend in an east–west direction from the Guatemala/Mexico border to southern Belize. In four of the five sections examined, a breccia unit up to 50?m thick overlies reef-bearing shallow-water limestones of late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) age. Rhythmically bedded limestones, marls and siltstones of early Danian age overlie the breccia and were deposited under middle-to outer-neritic conditions. The breccia consists of differently coloured layers of shallow-water limestones. Clast size generally decreases upsection to thin layers of predominantly rounded clasts, and these fine-grained rudstones grade into grainstones at the top. In at least one section (EI Caribe) diagenetically altered glass spherules are present in the uppermost layers of the grainstone. These glass spherules are of stratigraphic position and chemical composition similar to black and yellow glass from Beloc, Haiti and Mimbral, Mexico, which some workers have chemically linked to melt glass within the breccia of the Chicxulub cores. We suggest that breccia deposition in Guatemala may have been multi-event, over an extended time period, and related to the collision of the Yucatan and Chortis plates as well as related to a major impact or volcanic event at the end of the Cretaceous.     

中国东南海域中生界油气地质条件与勘探前景

中国东南海域中生代地处欧亚板块东南缘, 夹持于欧亚板块、太平洋板块与印度澳大利亚板块之间。以往对于该区域的油气勘探多集中于新生代。笔者在前人研究的基础之上, 结合新近获得的地震资料, 开展了中国东南海域及周缘油气地质条件研究。结果表明:中国东南海域中生界分布广, 东海南部、台湾岛以及台西南盆地发育中生界深海相硅质岩, 可能与冲绳缝合带和菲律宾巴拉望缝合带形成有关;南海北部及周缘陆区发育上三叠统下侏罗统海相和海陆交互相碎屑岩及上侏罗统白垩系陆相碎屑岩, 可能与印支期缝合带的形成有关。从海域钻井及周缘陆区沉积层序资料推断, 中国东南海域有两套发育良好的烃源岩, 具有较强的生烃潜力:上三叠统下侏罗统海相泥页岩, 有机碳质量分数为0.28%~14.96%, 干酪根类型主要以Ⅱ₂型和Ⅲ型为主;下白垩统海相泥页岩, 有机碳质量分数为0.60%~2.00%, 干酪根类型以偏Ⅱ₂Ⅲ型为主。该海域发育两套生储盖组合:一套以上三叠统下侏罗统泥页岩为烃源岩, 中、上侏罗统砂岩为储层, 下白垩统泥页岩为盖层;另一套以下白垩统泥页岩为烃源岩, 白垩系砂岩为储层, 上白垩统泥页岩为盖层。它们相互可以形成"古生新储"、"自生自储"油气藏组合。因此, 中国东南海域中生界是值得关注的油气勘探新领域。     

Upper Devonian depositional system of Bel’kov Island (New Siberian Islands): An intracontinental rift or a continental margin?

The archipelago of New Siberian Islands situated on the northeastern continental shelf of Eurasia is considered a part of an exotic terrane that collided with Siberia in the Early Cretaceous. Bel’kov Island is located close to the inferred western boundary of this terrane and thus should demonstrate attributes of its localization at the margin of the Paleozoic oceanic basin. The Upper Devonian section on Bel’kov Island is a continuous sequence of deepwater terrigenous rocks, which indicates a tendency toward deepening of the basin previously revealed on adjacent Kotel’ny Island. The lowermost Upper Devonian unit on Bel’kov Island is represented by thin Domanik-like strata resting on the Middle Devonian carbonate platform. The main body of the Upper Devonian sequence, more than 4 km in total thickness, is made up of gravity-flow sediments including turbidites, clay and block diamictites, and olistostromes in the upper part of the section, which accumulated at the slope of the basin or its rise. At many levels, these sediments have been redeposited by along-slope currents. The uppermost unit of organogenic limestone is evidence for compensation of the trough. According to conodont assemblages, the deepwater terrigenous rocks were deposited from the early Frasnian to the early Tournaisian. This time is known for extensive rifting in the eastern Siberian Platform. The data obtained allowed us to reconstruct a NNW-trending Late Devonian rift basin on the Laptev Sea shelf similar to other rifts at the eastern margin of the Siberian Platform.     

Le probléme des relations des schistes lustrés piémontais avec la zone briançonnaise dans les alpes cottiennes

This paper deals with the tectonic and paleogeographic relations of two main internal zones of the Western Alps: The Briançonnais zone (“geanticline”, with thin sedimentation during Jurassic and Cretaceous times), and the still more internal Piemont zone (“eugeosyncline”, with Mesozoic-Post-Triassic-“Schistes lustrés” and Ophiolites). From structural, and especially stratigraphic and paleontological proofs, it can be concluded that, the Schistes-lustrés-complex (with or without his fossiliferous triassic-liassic basis) is thrusted over the Briançonnais zone; intermediate tectonic units are known; they belong to the intermediate paleogeographic Acclegio zone having undergone intensive Post-Triassic erosion; thus Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous limestones and breccias are transgressive upon the Lower Triassic and Paleozoic basement rocks. This Acceglio zone can be linked with the upper portion of a “Prepiemontese Flexure” parting the Briançonnais geanticline and the Piemont geosyncline. At the lower part of this flexure, no erosion occured, but breccias and microbreccias are interbedded in Post-Triassic “Prepiemontese” sediments (“Schistes lustrés” facies but no ophiolites) belonging to the “Gondran zone” (an external portion of the Piemont zone with triassic dolomites followed by fossiliferous rhaetic an liassic beds). The ophiolite-bearing Schistes lustrés often lie conformably upon the sediments of this Gondran zone, but the contact is not definitely a stratigraphic one: More field research is necessary to decide if these ophiolites and Schistes lustrés really are the stratigraphc continuation (upper jurassic and lower cretaceous?) of the triassic-liassic (and meso-Jurassic?) sequence of the Gondran zone, or if they belong to an independant tectonic unit, coming from some internal zone.     

BASIN-RANGE TRANSITION AND GENETIC TYPES OF SEQUENCE BOUNDARY OF THE QIANGTANG BASIN IN NORTHERN TIBET

BASIN-RANGE TRANSITION AND GENETIC TYPES OF SEQUENCE BOUNDARY OF THE QIANGTANG BASIN IN NORTHERN TIBET     

Lithostratigraphy and depositional environments of the upper cretaceous deposits in the central Taurides (S Turkey)

The study area is located in the Central Taurides (southern Turkey), which is bounded by the K?rkkavak fault to the west and Ecemi? fault to the east. The sequences are studied in detail based on measured sections composed of the rocks deposited during the Cenomanian–Maastrichtian and located within different tectonic units previously described in the Taurides. The study materials include 217 thin section data from seven Cenomanian–Maastrichtian sequences of outcropping in different parts of the Central Taurides. The sediments deposited during the Cenomanian–Maastrichtian period in the Central Taurides are subdivided into eight units based on their lithological, paleontological, and textural properties. The lower boundaries of the upper Santonian and Campanian are unconformable contacts. The Upper Cretaceous sequence starts with the middle Cenomanian and represents a continuation of the Lower Cretaceous tidal flat and shelf lagoon sequence. Upper Turonian–Coniacian sediments are not observed due to the eustatic sea level drop. The second main transgression period of the Upper Cretaceous platform took place in the Santonian. This unit is represented by limestones composed of wackestones/packstones containing benthic foraminifera and rudist fragments, which are deposited in tidal flats and subtidal environments. The late Campanian starts with a transgression, and the environment transformed transitions into slope facies from inner platform facies, as a result of the thrust of ophiolitic rocks. In the following period, slope front and basin plain environments were dominant due to the increasing slope. Slumped pelagic limestones were deposited on the slope. Planktonic foraminiferal pelagic limestones were unconformably deposited on plaque limestone in the slope front environment depending on the increase in slope gradient and local faulting. As a result of decreasing tectonic activity, the sediments were deposited onto a stable basin plain. They were initially fed from the nearby carbonate platform and then by siliciclastic turbidites derived from the thrusted ophiolitic rocks. In this study, the lithostratigraphic properties of the Cenomanian–Maastrichtian units outcropping in various parts of the Central Taurides are described. The sedimentary deposits described here suggest different basinal conditions in the region.     

The effect of Meso-Cenozoic tectonic processes on the formation of Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous hydrocarbon pools in the north of the Aleksandrov arch (West Siberia)

The effect of tectonic processes on the petroleum potential of the Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous sediments is estimated by the example of the deposits in the north of the Aleksandrov arch. The formation history of the structures bearing Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous hydrocarbon (HC) pools is discussed.The results obtained lead to the conclusion that anticlinal traps complicated by faults cutting the Meso-Cenozoic sedimentary cover are the most promising for the formation of large HC pools in Cretaceous sand reservoirs. These traps serve as channels for HC migration from the oil-producing rocks of the Bazhenovo Formation into the overlying reservoirs. In the Upper Jurassic sediments, anticlinal traps free from Cenozoic faults are the most promising for HC accumulation. These conclusions are confirmed by a number of examples.     

兰州盆地下白垩统碎屑岩层序地层序列：祁连山早白垩世隆升的沉积学响应

青藏高原东北缘的祁连山,在早白垩世期间发生明显隆升,受区域性构造运动和白垩纪特殊行星风系的影响,在山前盆地中沉积了一套特殊的碎屑岩序列。兰州盆地下白垩统发育完整,虽然局部被第四系覆盖,但总体出露良好,其特殊的相序单元构成的非常规体系域概念框架下的陆相层序地层学模式,对研究祁连山隆升的沉积学响应及环境效应具有重要意义。兰州盆地下白垩统为河口群,可以识别出5个三级层序(S.1—S.5),包括LAST和HAST两个非常规体系域,冲积扇和河流相粗碎屑沉积构成三级层序的LAST单元,HAST单元由湖泊相细碎屑地层组成。河口群上部地层发育的风成砂岩序列,在一定程度上可以解释为祁连山隆升造成的"焚风效应"产物,对研究祁连山的阶段性隆升特征具有重要的意义。早、晚白垩世之交,祁连山开始快速强烈隆升,兰州盆地整体抬升为剥蚀区,导致研究区缺失上白垩统。因此,兰州盆地下白垩统特殊的层序地层序列,不仅是早白垩世祁连山隆升的物质记录,还为研究早白垩世东亚大气环流格局变化提供了物质基础。     

Geochemistry of subalkaline and alkaline extrusives from the Kermanshah ophiolite,Zagros Suture Zone,Western Iran: implications for Tethyan plate tectonics

The Kermanshah ophiolite is a highly dismembered ophiolite complex that is located in western Iran and belongs to the Zagros orogenic system. The igneous rocks of this complex consist of both mantle and crustal suites and include peridotites (dunite and harzburgite), cumulate gabbros, diorites, and a volcanic sequence that exhibits a wide range in composition from subalkaline basalts to alkaline basalts to trachytes. The associated sedimentary rocks include a variety of Upper Triassic to Lower Cretaceous deep- and shallow-water sedimentary rocks (e.g., dolomite, limestone, and pelagic sediments, including umber). Also present are extensive units of radiolarian chert. The geochemical data clearly identifies some of the volcanic rocks to have formed from two distinct types of basaltic melts: (i) those of the subalkaline suite, which formed from an initial melt with a light rare earth elements (LREE) enriched signature and incompatible trace element patterns that suggest an island arc affinity; and (ii) those of the alkaline suite with LREE-enriched signature and incompatible trace element patterns that are virtually identical to typical oceanic island basalt (OIB) pattern. The data also suggests that the trachytes were derived from the alkaline source, with fractionation controlled by extensive removal of plagioclase and to a lesser extent clinopyroxene. The presence of compositionally diverse volcanics together with the occurrence of a variety of Triassic–Cretaceous sedimentary rocks and radiolarian chert indicate that the studied volcanic rocks from the Kermanshah ophiolite represent off-axis volcanic units that were formed in intraplate oceanic island and island arc environments in an oceanic basin. They were located on the eastern and northern flanks of one of the spreading centers of a ridge-transform fault system that connected Troodos to Oman prior to its subduction under the Eurasian plate.     

Geological context and plumbotectonic evolution of the giant Almadén Mercury Deposit

The Almadén mine has been the largest among several mercury deposits that represent the biggest mercury concentration in the world. The deposits form a mining district which is located in a 30 km long and up to 15 km wide WNW–ESE oriented syncline, where a thick Lower Ordovician–Upper Devonian siliciclastic sedimentary sequence outcrops. Most of the deposits are located in the south subvertical syncline flank, which has an opposite vergence to the rest of the region. Of special note is the presence of important NW–SE to WNW–ESE crustal structures that played a major role at several times during the regional geological history and controlled the sedimentary unit distribution, volcanism and deformation. One of these structures seems to have played an important role in the Almadén area, probably having been responsible for the anomalous syncline geometry. This structure acted during the E–W Variscan shortening as a ductile–fragile sinistral shear zone that resulted in a subvertical attitude of the southern Almadén Syncline flank, affecting the sedimentary sequence longitudinally. The Hg deposits in the region correspond to two types, stratabound and stockworks. The former are hosted in well-defined “Criadero Quartzite” orthoquartzite levels of Ordovician–Silurian age. These deposits were folded and sheared during the Variscan deformation. The stockwork deposits filled fractures and veins and partially replaced the volcanic rocks affected by the Variscan shear zones. The replacement process took place at the end of the E–W Variscan shorteningThe Almadén deposit belongs to the stratabound type and has three mineralized levels, one located in the lower part and the other two in the upper part of the “Criadero Quartzite”. Of minor relevance, other small stockwork bodies, replacing a volcanic breccia-tuff known as “Frailesca” rock, have also been exploited. This rock formed massive lenticular bodies that have been interpreted as pre-Variscan diatremes. On the basis of field criteria we conclude that the “Frailesca” rock emplacement took place later than cinnabar mineralization. After the “Frailesca” rock was formed, it was cut by sills of quartz-diabase that resulted from a new magmatic event. Both volcanic materials affect the mercury ore, developing small aureoles of contact metamorphism and volatilizing the cinnabar. The deposit shows three sectors, separated by two straight dextral faults, which cut the sinistral WNW–ESE shears bands. The latter affect the mercury ore, mostly in its western area.Lead isotopes from Almadén cinnabar deposits show a broad range of values, higher than those predicted for the Stacey and Kramers and Cumming and Richards crustal Pb evolution models but largely tallying with the Sardinia evolution line for this sector of the Variscan basement quite well. The data set plotted along the Sardinia curve in several well defined clusters that could be interpreted as a lead extraction by means of large scale convective hydrothermal systems from a lead reservoir located in the upper crust at a time indicated by the Sardinia curve. The estimated ages for this lead model evolution indicate lead extraction as having occurred during the late Silurian–Devonian (420–375 Ma), late Variscan (300 Ma,), Permian–Triassic (290–220 Ma), late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous (200–150 Ma) and Eocene–Oligocene (50–25 Ma), and are coincident with the main extensional tectonic episodes (from late Ordovician to Devonian, Permian to Triassic and Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous). This shows that cinnabar is likely to have been mostly remobilized–crystallized during the regional extensional tectonic events, capturing lead from the host sedimentary sequence. This lead was mobilized by large scale, long term hydrothermal convective cells at various times, constituting a complex geotectonic history for the ore-forming processes.     

Mid-Cretaceous uplift and erosion on the northern margin of the Ligurian Tethys deduced from thermal history reconstruction

The paleogeography during Early Cretaceous of the northern margin of the Ligurian Tethys is poorly constrained because of deformation and erosion during Pyrenean and Alpine orogenic phases. The present-day limit between Lower Cretaceous sediments in the South–East basin, located at the northwestern margin of the Ligurian Tethys, and basement rocks is the consequence of a protracted erosion history. Lower Cretaceous sediments observed today in the basin, even close to the present-day outcropping border, are characteristic of pelagic environments. A larger extent of a Lower Cretaceous cover on the basement must then be considered. This study focuses on the western part of this margin (the Causses basin), in the South of the Massif Central (France), using several thermochronometers and geothermometers to decipher the former extent of the sedimentary cover. Apatite fission track thermochronology on basement rocks surrounding the Causses basin suggests that these rocks cooled from temperatures higher than 110°C during the mid-Cretaceous. Average fluid inclusion homogenisation temperatures between 94°C and 108°C are recorded in calcite veins from outcropping Toarcian and Aalenian shales. In the shales, Tmax values, temperature obtained by Rock–Eval pyrolysis of organic matter, are in agreement with these elevated temperatures. Different explanations for these relatively high temperatures, which cannot be explained by the present-day sedimentary serie in the basin, have been tested using a 1D thermal modelling procedure (Genex). For a 95±10-mW/m² paleoflux, thick sedimentary deposits (2.5±0.3 km) including 1.3±0.3 km of Lower Cretaceous sediments cover the South of the Massif Central; these formations have been subsequently eroded from mid-Cretaceous time onwards. This study confirms that the South of the Massif Central was a site of marine sedimentation during the Early Cretaceous where a thick sedimentary sequence was once deposited.     

Pétrographie des „Permoskyth“ der Jaggl-Plawen-Einheit (Südtirol) und Diskussion der Detritusherkunft mit Hilfe von Kathoden-Lumineszenz-Untersuchungen

The Permo-Scythian deposits E of Lake Reschen (North-Italy) are composed of a sequence of terrestrial sediments in Verrucanofacies and of a series of detrital carbonate and lagoonal-evaporitic rocks (“Wechselschichten”) overlaid by Anisian fossiliferous dolomites. Examinations by cathodo-luminescence give reference to the source area of the detrius and to the diagenesis of the sediments. Further statements can be made by X-ray (triclinity of K-feldspars; inclusions in authigenic minerals) and chemical examinations (composition of dolomites). The detritus of the slightly metamorphic rocks, indicated by the crystallinity of illite, does not originate from the underlying “Plawenkristallin” and from the adjacent “ötztalkristallin”, respectively, but by 70% from a porphyritic source area that is supposed to be located in the region of Lugano.     

Resolving impact volatilization and condensation from target rock mixing and hydrothermal overprinting within the Chicxulub impact structure

This work presents isotopic data for the non-traditional isotope systems Fe, Cu, and Zn on a set of Chicxulub impactites and target lithologies with the aim of better documenting the dynamic processes taking place during hypervelocity impact events, as well as those affecting impact structures during the post-impact phase. The focus lies on material from the recent IODP-ICDP Expedition 364 Hole M0077A drill core obtained from the offshore Chicxulub peak ring. Two ejecta blanket samples from the UNAM 5 and 7 cores were used to compare the crater lithologies with those outside of the impact structure. The datasets of bulk Fe, Cu, and Zn isotope ratios are coupled with petrographic observations and bulk major and trace element compositions to disentangle equilibrium isotope fractionation effects from kinetic processes. The observed Fe and Cu isotopic signatures, with δ^56/54Fe ranging from ?0.95‰ to 0.58‰ and δ^65/63Cu from ?0.73‰ to 0.14‰, mostly reflect felsic, mafic, and carbonate target lithology mixing and secondary sulfide mineral formation, the latter associated to the extensive and long-lived (>10⁵ years) hydrothermal system within Chicxulub structure. On the other hand, the stable Zn isotope ratios provide evidence for volatility-governed isotopic fractionation. The heavier Zn isotopic compositions observed for the uppermost part of the impactite sequence and a metamorphic clast (δ^66/64Zn of up to 0.80‰ and 0.87‰, respectively) relative to most basement lithologies and impact melt rock units indicate partial vaporization of Zn, comparable to what has been observed for Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary layer sediments around the world, as well as for tektites from various strewn fields. In contrast to previous work, our data indicate that an isotopically light Zn reservoir (δ^66/64Zn down to ?0.49‰), of which the existence has previously been suggested based on mass balance considerations, may reside within the upper impact melt rock (UIM) unit. This observation is restricted to a few UIM samples only and cannot be extended to other target or impact melt rock units. Light isotopic signatures of moderately volatile elements in tektites and microtektites have previously been linked to (back-)condensation under distinct kinetic regimes. Although some of the signatures observed may have been partially overprinted during post-impact processes, our bulk data confirm impact volatilization and condensation of Zn, which may be even more pronounced at the microscale, with variable degrees of mixing between isotopically distinct reservoirs, not only at proximal to distal ejecta sites, but also within the lithologies associated with the Chicxulub impact crater.     

Kinematics and geochronology of Early Cretaceous thrusting in the northwestern paleozoic of Graz (Eastern Alps)

Abstract

The multiply deformed Upper Austro-Alpine nappe pile of the Graz area is built up of low-grade metamorphosed Paleozoic rocks which are discordantly overlain by sediments of Santonian (Late Cretaceous) age (“Gosau” formation). Slices of Permo-Mesozoic rocks are absent. Analyses of structures, microfabrics, strain and shear directions were used to decipher the kinematic history; geochronological investigations to date the age of thrusting. K/Ar and Rb/Sr ages of synkinematically grown mica suggest an eo-Alpine (Early Cretaceous) age for the major deformation D1. D1 is characterized by non-coaxial rock flow which caused SW- to W directed nappe imbrication. Incremental strain measurements indicate the progressive superposition of D2 over Dl. In the higher nappe (Rannach Nappe) nappe imbrication continued during D2 changing the direction of nappe transport from SW to NW. Enhanced flattening strain in the deeper nappe (Schöckel Nappe) led to recumbent folds in all scales during D2. This study emphasized two interpretations : (1) The Alpine deformation in the Upper Austro-Alpine nappe pile of the Paleozoic of Graz started in the Earliest Cretaceous (about 125 Ma.). (2) The emplacement of nappes followed a curved translation path in the studied area.